Latest economic news, trends, and insights from around the world, impacting businesses and consumers.
The United Kingdom through its Home Office has announced the commencement of the implementation of its visa dependants ban which prohibits Nigerian students and other foreigners from bringing family members. The announcement was made via X by the UK’s Home Office on Monday reiterating that only foreign students in postgraduate research or government-sponsored scholarship could…
The leadership of the Taraba State chapter of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria, AMMBAN, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks to as a matter of urgency address the challenges of cash scarcity and fraud plaguing the nation. The association made the call in a…
The Naira depreciated by a whopping 49 per cent year-to-date as the currency of Africa’s largest economy ended 2023 on Friday at N907.11 per US Dollar. Data from the FMDQ, where the exchange rate trades officially, showed that the Naira appreciated slightly to N907.11 per US Dollar on Fridays from the N1,043/$1 it quoted on…
In this interview, Dr Phillips Nto, World Bank consultant, development economist and former Abia state commissioner for finance, spoke on the economy, insecurity and how to deepen Nigeria’s democracy among others. On 2024 budget and how to make it realisable Doing a little analysis on the N27.5 trillion budget, it could be seen that the…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promoted 5,196 members of its staff nationwide. The commission disclosed this in its daily bulletin issued by the Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Mrs Adenike Tadese, on Thursday in Abuja. Tadese said that the promotion came on the heels of the 2023 promotion examination and evaluation carried…
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has recovered N264.04 billion from borrowers under its development financing programmes in the first six months of 2023. According to the CBN’s Half-Year Economic Report for 2023, this was 27.4 per cent higher than the N207.33 billion recovered in the same period of the previous year. The apex bank…
The cost of servicing debt for railway projects exceeded the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC)’s revenue by 1,208.5 per cent in the first half of 2023, an analysis of debt service documents has shown. This is as the NRC said over 63,000 people have so far benefited from the free train ride declared by the federal…
The Director General of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, has described 2023 as a year of achievements and “avoidable suffering.” Reflecting on 2023, which also marked the UN agency’s 75th anniversary, Ghebreyesus highlighted key achievements and set out objectives for the coming year. The WHO chief said the outing year saw significant milestones…
The Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, has extolled the role of stakeholders in the Nigerian art and creative industries in building a peaceful and united nation. The minister gave the commendation in her Yuletides’ goodwill message to artists, performers, artisans, cultural workers and other stakeholders in the sector across the…
Sophia Ukoni, a Nigerian researcher, has been honoured with the 2024 Global Qualitative Researchers’ Award. This recognition was announced alongside Florian Growth, a Senior Research Consultant specialising in Consumer Research at Point Blank in Berlin. Sophia began her journey into market research over seven years ago at Kantar Nigeria, spending five formative years there before…
Israel pushed on Sunday with its military campaign to destroy Hamas over the October 7 attacks, as the focus of the deadly combat shifted to southern Gaza where most displaced Palestinians are trapped. US President Joe Biden stressed the “critical need” to protect civilians, in a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowed Israel…
The Federal Government says the current naira scarcity nationwide is not an attempt to make Nigerians unable to access cash and suffer. Speaking at a press briefing on President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s achievements in Abuja on Thursday, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was working…
The Naira dropped against the US dollar at the foreign exchange markets on Friday as corporate businesses closed for the Christmas celebration in Nigeria. Official data from FMDQ showed that the Nigerian Naira weakened against the US Dollar by falling 2.71 per cent to N885.88/$1. Naira’s loss on Friday represented an N23.97 or 2.71 per…
Some residents of Ibadan have decried the hardship they have been facing over cash shortage, saying it may mar their Christmas celebrations. The residents, in separate interviews in Ibadan, lamented the difficulty they had been facing in accessing their money in the banks. An entrepreneur, Mr Niyi Olawuyi, said that the experience had been harrowing,…
With less than three days to Christmas, foodstuff sellers in Kabusa Market in Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja on Thursday lamented poor patronage and unfavourable business condition. Aminu Danlami, an onion and tomato seller, said: “A big basket of tomato we buy at N22,000 in Mararaba Market was…
The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has called on the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to fix the naira scarcity which is currently subjecting Nigerians to untold hardship during this Yuletide season. CACOL asked both the FG and the apex bank where the printed naira notes have disappeared despite billions…
The Federal Government, FG, has said ministries, extra-ministerial departments, and agencies (MDAs) have no excuse in speedy implementation of digitalization reforms in 2024. The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoSF), Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, said this at a one-day retreat on digitalization for the Head of Service and Permanent Secretaries held on Tuesday,…
The Naira appreciated against the US dollar at the official foreign exchange market. Official data from FMDQ disclosed that it appreciated N844.85/$1 at the close of work on Monday. The figure represents 5.15 per cent increase compared to the N888.35/$1 quoted at the close of business on Monday. This is the second time the country’s…
The newly appointed board members of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) have pledged their commitment to President Tinubu’s goal of increasing the country’s oil production to 2 million barrels per day by next year. In a briefing to State House correspondents in Abuja, the Chairman of the Board, Okokon Ekanem Udo, emphasized that the…
The National Bureau of Statistics has released its Consumer Price Index report for November 2023, which shows that the rate of inflation in Nigeria has increased by 0.87% points from October 2023. Consequently, this means that prices of goods and services are continuing to rise, making it more difficult for people to afford basic necessities….
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has described the World Bank’s call for petrol to sell for N750 per litre as mischievous. In fact, the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, warned that the Bank wants to set the country on fire by the suggestion. According to NLC, the World Bank’s call “is an advice laden with…
Niger’s deposed president Mohamed Bazoum must be freed immediately from detention, where he has been held since a July 26 coup, the court of the West African bloc, ECOWAS, ordered on Friday. The court called for his “immediate and unconditional release” and ordered that Bazoum be reinstated, according to the judge in the case heard…
The African Development Bank, AfDB has made a case for gender mainstreaming, as part of efforts towards enhancing accountability, transparency and curbing corruption and illicit financial flows in Africa. One of the graduates of the AFdB’s Public Finance Management in Africa Executive Training on Enhancing Accountability, Transparency, and Curbing Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows in…
The Central Bank of Nigeria has instructed all licensed financial institutions to display their corporate names conspicuously on all their websites, portals, and online applications. This directive was made public on the apex bank’s website on December 7, 2023. Accordingly, the apex bank said the directive is to guard against online fraud and boost consumer…
President Bola Tinubu has been urged to make his cabinet members and other appointees give an account of their performance every six months. A cleric, Prophet Sam Olu-Alo, who gave the admonition said such appraisal will help the president and those working with him to serve Nigerians better. Olu-Alo, who belongs to the Christ Apostolic…
The Plateau Chapter of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) has called on the state government to grant employment waivers to employable PWDs, roll out empowerment packages and provide free education and healthcare services to their families. Mr Shindol Aaron, the chairman of the chapter, made the call in a news conference…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) has revealed to the Senate Committee on Appropriations that there are approximately 4,800 illegal connections to oil pipelines across the country. This information was disclosed by Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, during an interaction with members of the committee on the budget for 2024. The…
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto and Founder of The Kukah Centre, Matthew Hassan Kukah, says Nigerian culture was designed to encourage injustice and oppression, particularly against women. He also said religion, which had all the instruments of reformation, had been wrongly applied in Nigeria, thus placing the country in its current bad shape….
The Nigerian government is making efforts to improve irrigation systems in order to boost food production, according to the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation. This was announced by Oyeronke Oluniyi, the Director of Immigration and Drainage at the Ministry, during a national workshop on irrigation and drainage practices. The workshop, which is being held…
The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System has asked banks to delist Payment Solution Service Providers, Switches and Super Agents from its outward payment or transfer list. The NIBSS disclosed this in a recent circular dated December 5, 2023, with Ref: NIBSS/BD/NI/PO/005/051223 to banks. The country’s payment system explained that listing non-deposit-taking financial institutions as beneficiaries contravenes…
Stakeholders have said that effective management of both soil and water health are essential elements needed to grow and boost food production. At the experts’ dialogue to mark the 2023 World Soil Day (WSD) in Abuja yesterday, they said soil and water conservation contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, adding that it improves the…
